MISSION FAILED SUCCESSFULLY: How I almost became a racer for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup

The second race weekend of the 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Philippine Cup is upon us, happening on May 24 and 25, 2025 at the Villar City in Cavite, with a street circuit race for the first time in a long time.

Very exciting as always but the story I want to tell you is about how I could’ve actually been one of the participants in this year’s season of the country’s largest one-make race (OMR) series.

In March this year, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) sent me an email invite for the Novice Class Driver Tryouts which was to be held in a week at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.

I was ecstatic as I was admittedly jealous and eventually frustrated seeing friends from the motoring media beat battle it out on the Media Autocross Challenge at every Toyota Vios Cup race weekend. Moreso when that part of the race was scrapped last year.

This finally gave me the opportunity to drive that Toyota Vios OMR car which I had a diecast model of (in previous livery), something that I have been looking forward to in quite a while.

The activities for the day were nothing like what happened at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy (TGRA) which I visited in last year’s edition. Instead of teaching us the basics of racing, we were immediately put to the test to see what we know, and what they can teach us if selected. 

The first order of business was a Gymkhana session. We would have to drive the car through a little autocross course, mainly composed of a slalom. Simple, right? I’ve done this many times during media track days…or so I thought.

Not knowing how to make use of a racing harness and racing bucket seat, I was not able to set my proper driving position prior to beginning my session. As such, I was too far from the steering wheel, and the harness itself was pushing into the jewels between my thighs (like Isack Hadjar during the last Japanese GP’s qualifying session). This made it uncomfortable to drive which slowed me down. Thankfully, I was smooth according to those spectating and I already knew how to operate the racing seat and harness for the next activities.

Next was the Drag Race session. Probably the most simple, all we had to do was gun the vehicle along the Clark International Speedway’s main straight while seeing who would have the best response time as we would need in a starting grid. 

With a proper driving position achieved this time, we had two trials of this test which yielded different results. Pitted against content creator Macoy Dubs, I was slower at the first round being about half a second behind. In the second trial, I performed better and faster, albeit still not as good as I wanted.

Finally, the last session before the first set of eliminations was the Sprint Run. What we had to do was to take three laps around the track, following the proper racing line and braking points.

I believe that it was this part of the day that cost me my chance as with no radio inside the vehicle assigned to me, I ended up left behind by the entire group. With my mind already telling me that I no longer had the chance, I just decided to have fun and put all previous track experiences to the test.

I tried my best to catch up to the rest of the group, remembering all the correct braking points and proper racing line for the Clark International Speedway. In fact, in my effort to catch up, I was already pushing the Vios OMR car to its limits which really surprised me for good reason.

What we all know as a basic and no frills point A to B budget subcompact sedan is actually quite fun to toss around the track. It may not be the fastest nor the quickest, but I certainly saw its charm on the track.

And with the first set of activities completed, I was already feeling quite tired due to heat exhaustion and the lack of sleep from the night before. It was however time for the first round of eliminations.

Was I eliminated? Yes. Was I disappointed? Maybe. Was I happy? A most definite Y-E-S. 

It was surely a different feeling, from driving a purpose-built and stripped down race car with a roll cage that made getting in and out a chore, having a proper racing seat and no airconditioning on, being in a proper racing suit and helmet instead of my usual normal clothes everyday clothes, and the sound of a loud racing exhaust and the feel of a very stiff suspension.

I may not have been selected to be among the racers for this season, but this experience was needless to say one for the books, a core memory. Perhaps another opportunity to try again will come by, and I’ll absolutely say yes to that.

I’m sure my racing fanatic dad and friends (you know who you are) will be very supportive too. 

_{Photos by Sam Surla and Julian Panlilio}